Tiger Woods- Tyler Crellin

Tiger woods had been compared to Michael Jordan for being the most dominate athlete in his sport. He had endorsements, sponsorships, was winning championships, and had a good family. In 2009 Tiger's world came crashing under. As it was known that he had been cheating on his wife, and things drastically declined from there. Nike dumbed him, most of his other sponsors dumbed him, and with his recent brush with injuries it did not look like Tiger was going to come back in Tiger form, anytime soon. Athletes, like Tiger, LeBron, and Michael all live in the spot light. They are the talk of sport media constantly, and that talk can quickly become negative, and have harsh and rash implications. As Michael Jordan knew one slip up and it would all go away, he would lose everything. As Tiger came so close to losing everything, but he did not. As now his family matters are more improved than they were, and he has found life again on the golf course. Tiger struggled on his way back on the golf course, but now has found his inner self. Some say that Tiger will never be what he was before the 2009 scandal, but people need to realize that he was also hurt, and injured during some of those times as well. Tiger is not the most humble person in the media, he is cocky and arrogant, but doesn't he have the right to be, because he is considered one of, if not the best to ever step on to a golf course? Tiger this year has won multiple events, and although he has not won that elusive major championship, he has assumed his dominance and took back the number 1 spot as the world’s best golfer.

Tiger in the Rough: Corey Krupa

It seems like Tiger Woods used to be on the same level as Michael Jordan in terms of athletic dominance. Tiger had countless endorsements, was winning majors, and had a happy family. This was until his infamous infidelity scandal in 2009. When you are as dominant as Tiger Woods, LeBron James, or Michael Jordan you are going to have a lot of pressure on you on and off the field. It seems like some of Tiger’s success has gotten to his head, because to me he seems to come across as arrogant. He is one of the greatest golfers ever but that does not give him an excuse to cheat on his wife or cheat in golf courses on the PGA Tour. Also, since his scandal he is not winning as much as he used to. I remember he would dominate the competition on Sundays or at least finish high on the leaderboard. He used to regularly win majors but now he is nowhere to be found on Sundays and instead newcomers like Rory McIlroy have emerged as the best golfers in the world. Tiger was an extremely entertaining competitor to watch but ever since that scandal he does not seem to be playing like his old self. I remember people used to think that Tiger would easily break Jack Nicklaus’ amazing record of 18 major championships. Now it seems like Tiger will never win another major ever again. It is difficult to watch superstar athletes such as Woods struggle and I do not think that Tiger Woods will ever regain his once dominate form. -Corey Krupa

Tiger in the Rough: Brett Bardwell

I am a normal golfer and follower of golf. I remember reading and seeing the incident that he had with his wife. Unfortunately, in today's society this has become some of the norm, especially with pro athletes. It is very common for people to throw themselves at these athletes for a shot at fame or recognition, but it is still on the athlete's to put their families before all of this. Tiger Woods the golfer is, in my opinion, the greatest golfer of all time. There has never been anybody who has played the game like him. For him to win as many tournaments as he has in the era of golf today is unbelievable. When Jack Nicklaus was playing there were normally three to four golfers who would compete for wins on Tour. This is evident in the fact that there have been 19 different winners in the last 21 majors. This would never happen back when Jack played. What I do not support is Tiger Woods the person. He has always been about himself and nobody else. That would easily explain his disregard for his wife and kids during his affairs. He also never spends any time with his fans that make it possible for him to live the life that he does. He never takes time to sign autographs or interact with fans like other golfers such as Phil Mickelson. Also, he is not liked very much on Tour. When the players compete in tournaments together like the Ryder and President's Cup he is one of the least favorite players to play with. Typically in these events pairings will be mixed up, but Tiger, until this most recent President's Cup, has always played with Steve Stricker. I hope that these recent events from Tiger's camp about his cheating in tournaments ends up hurting him. He always threatens people not to break stories or else he will not talk to them during the year. I think it is time for people to stand up to Tiger and make him finally start to respect the people and the game that made him what he is today.

Unfair to call Tiger Woods a Cheat - Travis Kash

Brandel Chamblee has been in the spotlight of golf as of late for remarks he made about Tiger Woods and this past season. In Golf Magazine Chamblee called Tiger Woods a "cheat" and gave him an F grade for this past season because of four incidents that took place over the course of the season. This is a big allegation because not only is calling someone a cheater the ultimate sign of disrespect in golf, but also because the season he is giving Tiger an F for was a season in which Tiger had five wins and also won Player of the Year. If one is not familiar with golf then it would be easy for you to come to the conclusion that four penalties in a year makes him a cheater, but you have to look at the context of each shot to truly understand what happened before you call Tiger a cheater. The first penalty came in Abu Dhabi at the HSBC Golf Championship. Woods missed the cut after he was assessed a two stroke penalty for taking a drop that himself and even his playing partner Martin Kaymer thought was legal. They were unclear about a very specific rule about hazards and vegetation, and that is what caused the penalty. The second penalty came at The Masters. Woods hit a ball that went off the flagstick and into the water, which meant he was supposed to drop from where he took his last shot. Since it is difficult to remember exactly where a shot was once you have moved from it, Woods dropped where him and many others thought was correct and carried on. Woods was assessed a penalty because a television viewer called in and it was found that the drop was 3 to 4 feet behind where it was supposed to be. These two are both penalties that Tiger paid for, and both penalties came about because of a simple misunderstanding of the rules, not because Tiger was trying to cheat. It is very well known that players are not very familiar with the rules. Bubba Watson, a tour competitor, was quoted as saying "I don't know the rules book, so I always call the rules official". The third penalty came at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Woods hit his ball into the water, so he chose to take a drop where the ball first crossed the water. After deliberating with his playing partner Casey Wittenberg, who said “I told him exactly where I thought it crossed, and we all agreed, so he's definitely great on that", they concluded where they saw the ball cross and Tiger dropped from there. Even though there was no official violation, people have come out since and said that it was an illegal drop and Woods should have been penalized. The final two stroke penalty came after Woods moved a twig from behind his ball at the BMW Championship. To the naked eye, it was nearly impossible to see whether or not the twig moved the ball. Once you used super slow motion, however, you could finally see that the ball did move very slightly. Once again this shows that Tiger had no ill intent, and that he was simply a victim of having a highly scrutinizing spotlight on his every room. To call Tiger a cheater is to say that he willfully and purposefully meant to better his score by doing things he knew was illegal, which is not what happened in any of these instances. While it is true that Tiger should know the rules better and not be so quick to make a decision when it comes to drops and other things,that does not make him a cheater.Tiger Woods is very deserving of his Player of the Year award (awarded to him by his own PGA tour peers), and Chamblee was way out of line when he called woods a cheater.

Tiger in the Rough- Brandon Focht

I had not heard much about Tiger Woods' life outside of golf since the incident a few years ago which this article talks about. I was also listening to the radio the other day, 106.5, which is a sports talk show most of the time. There was a guy talking about how players on the PGA Tour were coming together to not vote for Tiger as player of the year because he was caught cheating for different times on the course this year. The host of the show then said "once a cheater always a cheater." I thought about what he said, and got a chuckle out of it but it makes me have much less respect for Tiger. Most athletes do not live a normal personal life I understand that, and I believe that Tiger made mistakes (a lot of them) just like any other athlete has. Kobe Bryant had the rape allegations as well which ruined his marriage, but Kobe cannot cheat on the court and not have anyone see it with roughly 18,000 fans in the stands as well. On a golf course it is a different situation there are people scattered everywhere watching different professionals play. The fact that Tiger had cheated four different times this past year makes my respect for him dwindle. If I was on the PGA Tour whether Tiger won every tournament but the four he cheated in I would not vote him player of the year even if that were the case. If he is willing to cheat on the course, we already know he is willing to cheat off the course due to his past, but who knows maybe he is also taking PED's? Tiger I believe has learned his lesson for his personal antics, but is he going to have to learn the hard way if he keeps getting caught cheating on the course?

Advertisements in Flex and SI for Women- Shaun, Billy, Travis and Nicole

The advertisements in Flex and SI for Women differed fairly drastically. Each magazine focused on their target market and therefore had advertisements that would effectively reach these markets. In SI for Women, the target market would be women in sports. They magazine did a great job of highlighting women playing sports as 69% of the advertisements were of "Athletic Competence". Another aspect of the advertising in SI for Women that I found to be surprising, yet refreshing was that there was zero instances of "Soft Pornography". Clearly, SI for Women was promoting the right sort of ads while still publishing. Flex on the other hand had a very different set of advertisements. Flex focused on huge men showing off their muscles. These advertisements are meant to attract their man readers which are committed body builders. These men wore far less clothing than the women in Sports Illustrated for Women. 44% of the advertisements were of Dietary Supplements, 19% were of Knowledge systems, and 17% were of bodybuilding equipment. In terms of adornment of the body, 15% were of cosmetics. The messages sent by each magazine were very different. The ads in SI for Women were much more upbeat and encouraging, while Flex had advertisements that told readers that they are not good enough yet. SI for Women showed a wide range of athletes from different sports posing with an array of products. Some advertisements showed athletes stretching and preparing, while others used sentimental value by showing a couple or a family. Flex showed very muscular men advertising supplements or workout equipment. They sent the message that you are not man enough until you look like the guys in the ads. In selecting the picture of femininity and masculinity from each of the respective advertisements, we found the selection to be very simple. In Flex, the image of masculinity was of a muscular male, playing a game of pool with an attractive woman on each side of him. This conveyed masculinity because he is playing a game with attractive women and he is in great shape. The image of femininity was of a woman in short shorts and a bikini top walking out onto the beach. She seemed like an all american girl with a good smile, body, and very attractive.

Photographs in Sporting Magazines- Evan Sechler, Whitney Pellham, Michelle Bowles

The first magazine that our group looked at was Sports Illustrated for Women. In the magazine, the vast majority of the pictures were related to athletic competence (50%). Only 11 pictures showed ambivalence (13.8%). The magazine featured an “All-American Girl Next Door” 13 times (16.3%). Only 4 pictures in the magazine would be considered “hyper heterosexual” (5%). There were 9 pictures in the “sexy babe” category (11.3%). Finally, the magazine had 3 pictures that could be considered soft pornography (3.8%). The next magazine our group looked at was Muscle and Fitness. In the magazine, we observed 52 pictures that featured dietary supplements (47.3%). Only 5 pictures were advertising bodybuilding equipment (4.5%). There were 53 pictures relating to “knowledge systems” (48.2%). 2 pictures in the magazine were advertisements for clothes (1.8%), and only 1 picture was advertising cosmetics (0.9%).

Advertisements and Photographs in Flex & SI for Women - Britney, Stacy, Jude

The advertisements and photos in Flex magazine in comparison to the advertisements and photos in Sports Illustrated for Women were different, yet the same in that they both promoted "good looking" bodies. Of the 84 advertisements in the November 2005 issue of Flex, 81 of them were about Technologies of the body (dietary supplements, body building equipment and knowledge systems) and only 3 of them were of adornment and display of the boday (clothes, cosmetics and competitions). In technologies of the body, 54% of all the ads were of dietary supplements, 3.5% were of body building equipment and 35% were of knowledge systems. In adornment and display of the body, only 1% were clothes, 0% were cosmetics, and 2.3% were competitions. In the November/December 2000 issue of Sports Illustrated for Women issue there were 30 advertisements. 18 of them (60%) were Athletic Competence, 0 of them were Ambivelance, 10% were All-American Girl Next Door, 6% were Hyper Heterosexual, 13% were Sexy Babe and 10% of them were Soft Pornography. Most of the advertisements in Flex showed huge, bulky, muscular men and most of the advertisements in Sports Illustrated for Women showed females in action and them playing a sport, or them posing in a sports bra and athletic short shorts. The themes conveyed most dominantly in Flex were the manly man, and the big men and how to get big fast with uses of different dietary supplements. The message mostly conveyed in SI for Women was to stay fit and active and competition. SI for women didn't really convey much feminity but Flex definitly conveyed a lot of masculinity. A good example, however, of femininity in SI for Women is on page 46. A good example for masculinity in Flex is on page 110. This activity showed that sport/fitness magazines for men are all about being more manly and more masculine. The sport and fitness magazines for women are not about feminity, but more about health and competition. -Britney, Stacy, Jude.

Anthony Cornwell, Jr. The Effect that Michael Jordan Has

Michael Jordan is the great basketball player of all time. Hands down! Kobe Bryant is the closest athlete to ever reach Jordan’s status. When he passes Jordan on the all-time scoring list this year, he still won’t be able to gain the status as Michael. LeBron may catch him, but it’s hard to tell at this time. Maybe in a few years. Michael Jordan is such a great athlete, role model and business man. His highlights and the way he changed the game speaks for his self. His swagger, his athleticism, and most of all his shoes. Did I mention the shoes? Mostly every kid I knew at a young age wanted to be like Mike. Not just black kids, kids of all races and backgrounds. But his business may be the most impressive. Even as me and my friends grow older, we still want to be like Mike. But this time in a different way, the business way. Just in Jordan’s six years in the NBA, he made the NBA revenue increase by 1.5 billion. That’s billion with a B. also whatever Jordan comes out with, it sells. All across the country and the globe, people stand outside in lines for hours just for a Jordan release. Every time he releases a shoe it’s out as well. It’s not just the shoes though, Jordan has a cologne and is the face of Hanes underwear. Let’s not even mention Space Jam (arguably the best kids movie ever). Jordan also represents many athletes in the NBA and other sports. He also sponsors some colleges (North Carolina for example). Hip hop artist wear Jordan’s and people in business attire wear even Jordan’s. Michael Jordan is like the King Midas of the business world. Whatever he touches turns to gold. Well in this case it would turn green. The Jordan Effect is real and will live on until the end of time. . . Did I mention the shoes?

Jordan Brand- Brandon Focht

Michael Jordan is nothing less than a sensation he has been an inspiration in so many things, he has inspired so many people through multiple things. He went from being cut from making the high school basketball team, to becoming the best player to ever play the game. With his hard work and determination on the court he has been able to develop the Jordan brand, cologne, shoe line, he has appeared in movies, and advertisements for many different products such as Hanes. I remember after Space Jam came out I asked for my Mom to buy me "Michael's Secret Stuff," which was a drink that was shown in the movie. Everybody wanted to be "Like Mike," which is also a movie that affiliates with a pair of his old basketball shoes giving whoever wears the shoes his basketball skills. MJ is a brand in his self, and he sells anything he is a part of because he is a winner, and everyone wants to associate with a winner. The NBA benefitted from MJ an extreme amount. In Johnson's article it is shown that once MJ had been in the league for six years the league had an in crease of over $1.5 billion dollars. That is just for the NBA Jordan had such an economic impact just in the league alone, he had an impact in the society as well. He helped businesses explode, and benefitted tremendously off of it. He boosted the economy through movies, books, and his own products as well. There are so many different pairs of Jordan shoes that have been created that are extremely valued as well. Only the greatest player of all time could have an impact like this, and Lebron James will never have an impact like MJ did. Michael helped refresh the NBA, and it exploded.

Photographs in Sporting Magazines- Brett Bardwell, Brian Kochheiser, Corey Krupa

Our group examined advertisements and photographs in two different magazines: Muscle & Fitness and Sports Illustrated for Women. When looking at the photographs of both genders in their respective magazines, we found that there were some differences between the ways that both genders were portrayed. In the Muscle & Fitness magazine, we noticed that the men had less clothing on than the women who were in Sports Illustrated for Women. This was a little surprising because traditionally people assume women will have less clothing on in their photos. Additionally, there were a lot more ads for drugs and supplements in the Muscle & Fitness magazine than the Sports Illustrated for Women, which is to be expected.

We found in the Sports Illustrated for Women magazine that 66% of the advertisements and photographs were focused on “athletic competence”. The most dominant theme for Muscle & Fitness was dietary supplements which was found on nearly every page. Additionally, there was a very high focus on masculinity in the Muscle & Fitness magazine. One thing that should be noted is the date that each magazine was published. The Sports Illustrated for Women was published in 2000, whereas the Muscle & Fitness was published in 2011. This is a fairly significant amount of time which might effect the types of advertisements that were in each magazine.

Overall, this was an interesting to do an advertisement and photography analysis of comparing and contrasting each magazine. I believe that it provided a little bit more insight to how genders are portrayed in print media.

By: Brett Bardwell, Brian Kochheiser, Corey Krupa   

Sex Sells Sex, Not Women's Sport - Corey Krupa

In a society that is often unfairly dominated by males, some female athletes are often portrayed in a sexual way. Women should obviously not be degraded and looked at as objects. However, a woman and a man have the choice to not pose in their underwear, swimsuits, or any other sexual ways. Athletes earn a lot of money for posing in little or no clothing and as a result can gain a lot popularity. They are the ones that put themselves out there to be viewed as eye candy and judged not by their performance or character, but instead how attractive they are. In my opinion, athletes should focus more on their performance on the field and involvement in the community with charities instead of taking off their clothes. I understand that a human body can be viewed as "artistic" when someone poses in a photo shoot wearing little or no clothing. However, I feel like it degrades women and it is not necessary at all for someone to pose in a sexual manner. I even feel like if women want to have even more respect in sports, then female athletes shouldn't pose in sexual ways for magazines or any other types of media outlets. They should leave all of that to models and other celebrities.

-Corey Krupa

Sex, whats the difference? - Tyler Crellin

Sex sells is such a broad term in stating that sex appeal sells more than the actual sport its self. This is true for women sports in general. Using the advertisements in class as an example, when I saw that advertisement just of the tennis player in her bra, I did not think of it any different from Victoria Secret ads or perfume ads some women athletes do. Now the male ad I reacted with laughter, and thought of it as a joke and a bad representation of male athletes. What is a bad representation? A male athlete in his underwear doing an advertisement? Our society today is all about the norms, and the norms are that women sell sex appeal not men, but is that true for all things? Power lifting, some consider it a sport, others consider it an athletic activity, both men and women do this sport/activity. Men are fit and there are a lot of women that go to power lifting meets just to see them, most do not care what they lift or if they lift. So is that not the same as men going to a women's sport just because of sex appeal. Even some women like male sports just because they think players on that team are hot, is that not the same thing? People look at men going to women's games because of sex appeal, but what about women that go to men sports? Do people ever wonder why they like that team? It is like asking a random male why he likes women's tennis. Women show off their sex appeal in ads, but men show there's off through action in sports. With a woman that does power lifting depending on her physique, she is looked at the same way that a man is looked at in that ad in class. The reason is because people find it odd and out of place for a woman to be that fit and strong, as people feel it is out of place for a man to be in there underwear in a advertisement.

Brett Bardwell: Sex Sells Sex, Not Women's Sports

I personally recall the cover of Sports Illustrated that featured Lindsay Vonn after the Olympics. I feel that it is unfortunate that her sexual prowess had to be the focus of the article. Why not put a picture of her in action during the downhill race instead? This would have been a great time to gain awareness for women's sports because she was the best at her respective sport and there was the underlying theme of patriotism. Not only was she a great women's sports figure, but she was a great American sports figure. I also agree with the article when it said that whether or not an  athlete is attractive has nothing to do with the viewing of the sport. When I watch sports I watch them for entertainment not because of how people look. In the case of Lindsay Vonn, I enjoyed watching the Olympics because of how she represented our country. In skiing especially, the people competing in the event are not even viewable. They are fully clothed and are wearing helmets and goggles. I feel that tennis promotes the selling of sex on the women's side. Men are clothed in normal shorts and a t-shirt, whereas women are wearing extremely skimpy skirts. In the case of Serena Williams, she designs her own clothes for events. She has the full opportunity to wear things that would not generate talk about her appearance and therefore focus solely on her performance on the court. It may be fair to say that this is a major way that she can garner focus for herself and her brand, but I think that if everybody involved wore things that took focus away from sex that there would be a greater focus on the sport itself. While marketing and promotion deserves a big bulk of the blame, athletes consent to this and put themselves farther in the hole.

Brandon Focht- Sex Sells Sex, Not Sports

As we have talked about several times in class the controversy of the media portraying female athletes as feminine and heterosexual. We are used to the feed from the media however, and we are far more comfortable with women being portrayed in a sexual manner then men. The example from class with Anna Kournikova in a sports bra advertisement was a lot more comfortable to see than the male cricket player wearing a jock strap with cricket gear. The caption was the same for both "Only the ball should bounce," but both the guys and girls reacted the same way to both advertisements. It was more generic with Anna Kournikova just in her sports bra, and there were not any looks of disgust on our classmate’s faces. When the advertisement with the cricket player was shown in the PowerPoint there were some comments, and laughter made by people in our class because it made us uncomfortable. We are used to the media giving female athletes this image and displaying them more for sexual prowess, than their ability as an athlete. Lindsey Vonn had the same thing done in Sports Illustrated after she was succeeding in alpine skiing in the Olympics and World Cup Championships. After Mary Jo Kane did studies it was found that most fans of female athletics did not believe that sexual pictures, and media of female athletes increased their interest in women's sports. I think that fans of female sports are not going to change their opinion of female athletics with these sexual images the media portrays, it will help keep younger men interested in female athletics, but it could hurt female fans, and older men who are fans as well. 

Homecoming Extra Credit- Eddie Hodges

The Homecoming symposium is a great way for students like me to get to hear words of encouragement, and diverse ways on how BG alumni became successful. The symposium that I attended was Richard Maxwell's. Richard Maxwell worked for the NFL, and worked closely with the past and present commissioners of the NFL. Some things that I learned from hearing Richard Maxwell's speech is to develop a passion for your career, get into something that you enjoy doing. Richard Maxwell also pointed out that it is common to not start in the career path that you are really trying to get into. In order to get to where you need to be you have to build your way up. He mentioned how the current commissioner, Roger Goodell, started as an intern for the NFL before becoming commissioner. In order for Roger Goodell to stick it through and  continue to build his way up in the NFL he had to have a strong passion for his career. Richard Maxwell also talked about how television networks competed to be able to show NFL games.  It is crazy to me how all these television networks have rights to broadcast NFL games and they are all making good profit by doing so. Richard Maxwell gave a great speech and I learned a lot about the basics of trying to get my foot in the door in professional sports. I know that I have to develop a passion for my career and also build my way up. He was a great speaker and I hope to hear him speak again.

Disabilities In Sport

People with disabilities have to deal with a lot in their lives. I believe that they have a right to play the same sports that people with non-disabilities get to play. Youth sports are not about who wins or losses; they are about having fun and learning valuable life lessons. Playing with or against someone that has a disability can teach a young person that everyone is equal and just because that person may look different; they really are not and should be treated fairly. It is sad to think that parents or coaches may become upset if someone with a disability plays well and dominates the competition. Someone with a disability that overcomes difficult obstacles should be inspirational to parents, coaches, and especially the athletes involved. I know that if I had a disability, I would be extremely self-conscious about it and I highly doubt that I would play any types of sports if I was born with a disability. I have a lot of respect for people that are born with disabilities that play sports. It takes a lot of courage and determination to go out on the field and ignore what everyone is saying about you. Also, the obstacles that they have to overcome are very impressive.

-Corey Krupa 

Disability & Sport - Nicole Zawislan

When we discussed disability in class last Thursday, I realized that I did not know much about any great athletes with disabilities. So I decided to look it up and found an interesting website (http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Sports/Galleries/5-Inspiring-Athletes-Who-Overcame-Disabilities.aspx?p=4) that featured some new athletes that we hadn’t talked about.

Jason Lester has been a participant in both Ironman and Ultraman competitions, although he does not have full control of his arm.  When he was 12, he was in a car accident that left his right arm paralyzed.  All of the class examples were about athletes who were missing a body part and most likely had a prosthetic.

I found Lester to be more interesting because he still has all of his body parts. So instead of dealing with not having an arm, he must deal with having dead weight. He needs to be even stronger than an athlete missing an arm to overcome the extra weight of an arm that provides no help.

I think that my sports experience would have been extremely different if I had a disability.  The main sport I played growing up throughout high school was soccer, which involves all parts of the body similar to football or hockey.  Those sports have rare occurrences of athletes with a disability being involved.  Which makes sense to me because of a disability being even harder to overcome in those sports.

I think another major difference in my involvement in sports is that I tried every sport growing up for at least one season.  I believe that if I would have had a disability, I would have chosen a sport and stuck with it.   I would have been concerned with the extra challenges I had to overcome and trying my hardest to be the best athlete on the team.  I do not think I would have let those challenges stop me however, and I know I still would have wanted to be a part of athletics.

Disabilities in Sports - Billy Nowak

     When it comes to people with disabilities in sports, I think that they should be able to play on any team that they are capable of playing on. Obviously, there are people with disabilities whose disabilities are too severe to allow that person to participate but for everyone else they should have the choice if they want to play on a team designed for people with disabilities or with people without disabilities. I give so much credit to the people with disabilities who play on a team with people without disabilities. They already are at a disadvantage and still chose to play the game the love. The controversy comes when people who are fans, observers, parents, etc. who complain about how it is not fair that that person with a disability is on the team with people without disabilities. Their argument is they change a part of the game that may affect the outcome of the game. This gets my gears going. An example from class was when we talked about Bobby Martin, a high school football player with no legs. He was on the high school football team and played defensive line. He was able to get through the line and make tackles on the running back, sacks on the quarterback and all the other skills needed to play defensive line on a high school football team. Outsiders then noticed that it is not fair to the other team who they play against that he is that low to the ground and unblockable. Also, that then gives the linebackers an advantage because the offensive linemen bend down to block Bobby and allow the linebackers to see the back field better. This absolutely lights a fire inside of me. How can anyone bring down person with a disability playing a game with a whole field of people without a disability? Everyone should acknowledge the passion Bobby has in the game and drive to play with a disability. As Gossfeld (2005) stated the other team gave Bobby a Superman logo for his helmet. This shows that others teams acknowledge Bobby playing the game he loves. People off the field just have to understand the situations in a positive manner.

Gossfeld, S. (2005, October 19). Inspirational high schooler in Ohio tackles football in his own unique way. In The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 7, 2013, from http://www.boston.com/news/special/bigarticles/bobby_martin/page1.html

Title IX Complience- Tyler Crellin

When you think about title IX you think about the impact it has on women sports, but not the impact it has on men sports. To comply with title IX, budget cuts sometimes need to be made. Men sports tend to get the short end of the stick because they generally have no say. Why should men have to give up a sport so that women can have a sport that may or may not be as competitive as there's? It is not fair that men have to suffer from title IX. Although, not all schools suffer from it. The big college schools such as OSU, Michigan, and Alabama all have big programs and can accommodate for the costs of title IX better than smaller college schools can. Smaller colleges like BGSU have had to make cuts to men sports programs. Is there a way that the smaller schools can comply with title IX and not have to cut any sports? It would be a tough job, but made easier if football would be considered out of the equation. I think that football should be considered separate from the title IX compliance because of how many players and scholarships there are for just that sport. No college is going to cut a football team, and so the other sports suffer for that. So should the NCAA make football separate, or should it just stay the way it is now. Title IX is tricky, it has helped women sports tremendously but also has damaged men sports in ways as well. I like seeing women sports improving, but I also want to see where sports do not have to get cut from schools to stay incompliance with title IX.

Title IX Compliance- Brian Kochheiser

One of the parts of Title IX that I find so interesting is how it impacts not only females but males as well. Athletic Directors around the country are constantly faced with difficult budget and compliance decisions that affect many student athletes. Athletic department budgets are very tight, and many of them don’t even make money, so there are always discussions every year about how to bring in revenue and balance the budget. Unfortunately, when balancing the budget and coming into Title IX compliance, many non-revenue men’s sports teams face cuts to their budget or are completely cut to fall into compliance. I believe that it is important to give female athletes the same opportunities, experiences, and facilities/ equipment as male athletes. At the same time, male athletes in sports that produce little to no revenue should not have to be cut in order to fall into Title IX compliance. One interesting component to Title IX compliance is football. Football eats up a lot of scholarships and resources because of how popular the sport is nationally. College football gives schools great publicity and marketing that influences applications and enrollment. The term “Flutie Effect” was coined after Doug Flutie completed a miraculous hail mary pass as Boston College beat Miami. After the game, applications and enrollment at Boston College skyrocketed, hence why it is called the “Flutie Effect”. Because of things like this, college football should not apply to Title IX compliance because of the revenue that it can bring the university and because there is no comparable female sport that can have that many scholarships. Not factoring football into Title IX might be a good way to keep some non revenue teams around!

What to do about Title IX: Brett Bardwell

I personally feel that there are a lot of problems behind Title IX. While I think the core meaning of it is in good taste I also think that it is unrealistic to be completely fulfilled. When it comes to this the question of whether or not things are fair is always asked and I do not think that it can be run that way. In a perfect world, yes, things would be fair, but it simply is not. Whether or not it is right or wrong can be debated, but schools today are HUGE businesses and are run accordingly. They want to promote products that are ultimately going to make them money and it is fair for a business to do that. There are schools that have prestigious women's programs and that is great. It should not be a matter of male and female, it should be a matter of what makes money for that school. It is unfair for the school to have to fund programs that are not going to make any money. There are thousands of colleges in the country and there are opportunities at other places for people to play. I think a fair comparison would be for a restaurant that has two specials that they run for the same amount of days every week. If you have one that sells out every time it is on the menu and another one that only sells a quarter of what you prepare why would you not make the higher-selling special every night? I just think that in today's world of college athletics there cannot be a right or wrong because it's gotten so out of control it's almost to a point of no return. In no way am I against equal opportunity, but there has to be some sort of common sense involved. Schools should not be forced to take a cut on things in order to come in compliance with Title IX, whether it be for boys or girls. Also, football blows things so out of proportion that it is unfair to have that in the conversation. I think that it is fair to say that without football (at least at major conference schools) there would not even be an athletic department because there would be no funds for the school to use. All in all, I feel that there are a lot of problems with no one particular answer.

Anthony Cornwell, Jr. Homecoming Extra Credit

The homecoming symposium speech that I attended was Richard Maxwell’s. Richard Maxwell was the Senior Director of Broadcasting for the National Football League. There were a couple of things that I learned from Richard Maxwell’s speech. The first was to work hard. Mr. Maxwell said that every commissioner that he worked under had a passion for the NFL and worked hard. From Pete Rozelle to Paul Tagliabue to Roger Goodell, the one thing they all had in common was hard work. He explained how Roger Goodell started out as an intern in public relations for the NFL. Just in case you read that wrong, Roger Goodell started out as an intern in public relations for the NFL, an intern. Mr. Maxwell also explained how Commissioner Goodell had plenty of opportunities to leave the NFL and go work for other companies, but his passion to be the commissioner one day was so strong that he turned down every opportunity. That just lets us know that if you really want something bad enough, don’t stop until you get it. Another thing that I enjoyed was how he talked about the case study that got each network a way to have NFL games. He didn’t go all the way into detail, but he explained how every network was happy except NBC. At the time NBC hosted Monday Night Football and ESPN hosted Sunday Night Football, while CBS had AFC games and FOX had NFC games. CBS and FOX still have the same contracts but ESPN and NBC doesn’t. NBC claims they were losing viewers and money due to Monday Night Football; because viewers would rather watch Desperate Housewives than Monday Night Football. So ESPN and NBC made the switch and when this switch was made, Sunday Night Football became the number one show to watch on Sunday night. It all worked out for the better for both networks. I wish Mr. Maxwell would’ve talked longer, but I got enough from his speech.

Brandon Focht- What to do about Title IX.

I believe that Title IX has become a quota for some schools. I think smaller schools who profit off of a particular sport such as Xavier for Men's basketball keep as many sports as they have to make sure they still profit off of their athletics. Xavier also does not have a football team, so they can put more money into their Men's basketball program, and have to comply less with Title IX because they do not have an abundance of scholarships to allocate to women's athletics as well. I think larger schools with a larger following in multiple sports such as Ohio State, Louisville, and Michigan do not see Title IX as a quota because they profit off of multiple sports. Title IX does hinder smaller schools with less following in my opinion because they cannot put more money into their programs, and if they have a football team it makes it even more difficult which is why Xavier benefits from not having a football team. I believe that football should be taken out of the equation for this purpose. With so many players on football teams it is difficult for smaller universities to profit if at all through their athletic programs. I also think that college football teams if they never do become separate should have to cut back on the number of scholarships, and players they have on their team to make it easier to comply with Title IX. A college football team does not need 75 players on their roster, when in the NFL teams I believe have 53 players on their rosters. If NFL teams can manage 53 players on a roster with injuries being more likely at the highest level of competition, NCAA football teams should have no problem having the same amount of players on their roster.

Anthony Cornwell, Jr. Disability and Sport

One of the athletes that competed in sport with a disability was Anthony Robles. He was also one of the athletes mentioned in our last class. Anthony Robles was a wrestler for Arizona State. He won the 2010-11 NCAA individual wrestling championship in the 125-pound weight class. From the information given, you wouldn’t think that he had a disability. But Anthony Robles was born with only one leg. For Robles he was at an advantage in wrestling. He gained tremendous grip strength from his use of crutches and had a low center of gravity. So even with one leg, he was determined to be a wrestler. Robles story is inspiring to me because it shows what hard work really can do for you. It’s already hard enough to win a NCAA championship in any sport, but to do it with one leg is just unheard of. I have plenty of respect for Anthony Robles. I believe my sport experiences would’ve been extremely different if I had a disability. To be honest I don’t think I would have the same friends that I have today. Not saying that my friends are bad people or anything like that, but most of my friends that I have today are friends that I met through sports. I don’t believe my mother would’ve even signed me up for little league sports, especially with a disability like Robles; the sports that I played growing up would’ve been almost if even impossible to play with one leg. I do believe that a disability would matter being in my gender. I don’t think it would matter to me because I don’t care what nobody thinks now. But when other people start their debating and the media, that is when I believe that the gender would play a role.